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Back when you could pick up a building lot in the Delaware Bay front town of Slaughter Beach for $8,000 to $10,000 town officials decided to super size the minimum requirements for new construction from the old 50-by-100-foot lot to 75 by 100.

Old timers say the idea was to maintain the look and feel of the quaint resort with its humble beach cottages.

"They didn't expect McMansions," said building official Bob Clendaniel.

Folks with homes on 50-by-100-foot lots could still up grade and make improvements, but their lots were considered non-conforming and people who had never built on their 50-by-100-foot lots couldn't build without a special exception.

But Monday, the council voted to change that – in a move that takes more than a dozen of non-conforming lots and makes them meet town zoning code. The move also clears the way for some landowners to build on their undeveloped 50-by-100 foot lots.

The move came as part of a comprehensive revision to the town's zoning ordinance -- the first in some three decades.

The decision was applauded by some and raised concerned with others.

One landowner, who has a home on a 50-by-100-foot lot, said he didn't want to be a non-conforming use.

But another said the smaller lot size could cause future problems if homes are built too close.

In reality, town officials said, the setbacks remain the same so a person with a 75-by-100 foot lot could simply build a bigger house than the person with the smaller lot. And in an age where people are building larger and larger beach homes -- nicknamed McMansions -- the days of the humble cottage may be a historic relic.

Clendaniel said that nearly two dozen lots in the town will go from non-conforming to conforming with the zoning ordinance change. There are still some smaller lots -- but in those cases, the lots are well below 50 feet wide and remain non-conforming uses. Those homeowners can still rebuild if their house is damaged or destroyed, but they must stay within the building footprint of the former home.

In addition, 11 property owners have houses built on one 50 by 100 lot and own the one next door, but the undeveloped 50-foot wide lot was rendered unbuildable under the old ordinance, he said.

The council also revised the municipal Flood Ordinance with changes designed to satisfy state and federal regulations. New construction and substantial remodeling projects will now need to be built one-foot higher than base flood elevations.

Slaughter Beach was placed under administrative review for problems with federal flood insurance paperwork in 2013.

Town officials have been working to resolve those issue over the past year.

"Our hands are kind of tied on it," said Mayor Bill Krause.

Of the homeowners in the town, 160 depend upon the federally subsidized program for their flood insurance, he said..

If the town were sanctioned over flood insurance discrepancies, residents would be unable to purchase the federally subsidized policies. Flood insurance is a requirement of home mortgages offered by federally insured banks.